Let’s start with a tough reality: Most restaurants will fail in their first year. This is not an indication of demand, however. As demographics shift, more people are eating out than ever before, so there are plenty of mouths to feed.

It all boils down (excuse the pun) to planning. “Fail to prepare, prepare to fail” should be the first thought of any hopeful restaurateur looking to make his or her mark and achieve success.

You have the passion, you have the talent, but do you have a plan? We’re not talking about a complex operation here; after all, the fundamentals of good restaurant are simple: Good service, good food, good value for money.

Given that the basics are pretty straightforward, your plan should be, too. Here are some restaurant business tips that you may find useful.

Streamlining

As discussed earlier, many restaurants fail in their first year. Why? Many simply aren’t streamlined enough. If you have large premises, a fridge packed with fresh ingredients and fifteen members of staff twiddling their thumbs with just two tables occupied, you know you’ve missed something along the way.

Understand your market

As you know, no particular food type has universal appeal. If you open a seafood restaurant, for example, you have to accept that you’ve distanced yourself from a large group of people.

Understanding what you should roughly expect in terms of customer numbers (to begin with) will be key to helping you plan your expenditure more effectively.

Before the first starter has been served or the doors even opened, a good restaurateur will know how big his or her workforce needs to be, and which suppliers are best to work with that help them balance expense with quantity and quality.

Research

It’s all in the research. Why have previous restaurants achieved success, or indeed failed, in this area? Who performs best here and why? Is it their service, food type, location?

There are hundreds of moving parts to a well-oiled restaurant, and it’s a tough game, but that doesn’t mean you can’t succeed. A well-researched plan that takes expense into account is the first thing you need to set you on your way.